The Woo

Worcester is The Woo, and it has been for several years. The only nickname the city ever had before that was Wormtown, which has become synonymous with this town for three decades.

I pre-date both nicknames, though, by another three decades.

Many people think that Wormtown is probably the silliest nickname the city could have, and I can hardly disagree with that sentiment. But when you consider that nobody could think of a better one for a quarter of a century, certain things about Worcester come into much clearer focus. For one thing, Wormtown (as Worcester) is much more about the music than the city. And for another, the allusion which tends to denote that the place is so dead it's being eaten by worms is (coincidentally) the penultimate synopsis of the entire state of affairs for this city, ever since the old money cashed in their chips.

Until The Woo is fully attached to Worcester, uniquely to Worcester Massachusetts, the Wormtown moniker will continue to yield the most hits on any search engine for things uniquely related to this city, and especially to a music scene that began here.

I like The Woo as our city's nickname, but can you imagine this blog being called Wootaxi?